ARSENE Wenger faced two questions he was unable to answer ahead of Arsenal’s crushing defeat against Chelsea and his search for the solutions must now begin in earnest.

Van Persie’s injury while playing for Holland has left Wenger in a fix

Having claimed the time had arrived for his young Gunners to stand up and show their strength, Wenger was asked what it would mean if his players failed to meet the challenge.

He wisely dodged the bullet last week, but he cannot escape it now after watching Arsenal finish second best in all areas to their London rivals.

It was also enquired whether manager Wenger, without Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner, had considered changing his new 4-3-3 formation.

“Good question,” came the response, but a definitive answer never arrived.

On the evidence of Sunday, Wenger still did not have an answer when his side fell two goals behind to Chelsea and desperately needed new ideas to try to find a foothold in the match.

Without Van Persie, who is expected to miss the next five months with his ankle injury, Arsenal are lacking a focal point – as further proved by the blank also drawn against Sunderland.

“The absence of Van Persie has weighed a lot, we have to find a solution,” said Gunners defender Bacary Sagna. “We can’t fool ourselves, the gap was too large between the two sides. Chelsea were stronger, they brushed us aside.

“The Chelsea game was a mirror image of our 1-0 defeat at Sunderland in that we did not really create chances. But we must not give up, or else we face dropping even further down the table.”

Midfielder Tomas Rosicky added: “It is difficult with Robin out. I thought the Chelsea game was a chance for players to step in, but I don’t know what has happened in the last few weeks. It is difficult to say and I understand I have to be better.”

Eduardo does not look capable of filling the void left by Van Persie against top-quality opposition, which is hardly surprising given the devastating broken leg he had to fight back from. Put him in front of a Blackburn or a Stoke and Eduardo will score goals. Similarly, send him on for 20 minutes at the end of a game against tired defenders and he will probably find space inside the six-yard box.

But faced with a fresh John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, Eduardo looked lightweight and short of either the pace or the invention to make up for his lack of inches and pounds.

“We are used to scoring goal after goal but at the moment we aren’t scoring,” said Wenger. “It is a massive disappointment that we did not score in our last two games.”

Bendtner is due to return from his groin injury over Christmas and, having set his sights on proving himself as one of the best strikers in the world, he will quickly have to start doing his talking on the pitch.

Doubts remain whether Bendtner, who has scored three goals in 13 appearances this term, will ever be prolific enough to be considered among the likes of Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney. Fledgling England star Theo Walcott will be tested as an out-and-out striker, but Wenger believes he is still 18 months away from making the full transition from winger to goal-getter.

Having initially vowed to keep faith in his players, Wenger must now decide whether he must enter the January transfer market to find a replacement for Van Persie.

Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh, who is out of contract in the summer, is still on his radar, while Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac is another player Wenger has admired for some time.

“I would rather have all our players back,” said Wenger. “I’m not in the mood to say I will buy players.

“We have to deal with the disappointment and respond to that by trying to win our next game.”

Other than bringing in a fresh face, Wenger could also contemplate a new approach.

A three-man midfield left Arsenal susceptible to raids from Ashley Cole, who set up two of Chelsea’s goals with crosses from the left, while Andrey Arshavin would be able to play in a front two.

“We have to keep going and try our best because, although it is not very early in the season, there is still a long way to the end,” said Rosicky. “We have to show our mental strength now.

“Letting our season fall apart would be the biggest mistake we can make.

“We know it will be very difficult for us to win the title but it is vital for us to get back on track immediately. We need to have a good reaction, if not it could be even more difficult.”

If things are to start getting easier for Arsenal in their attempt to win a first trophy for four years, then Wenger needs to find some answers – quickly.